Track-sander



f w. s. Gmswo'Ln.

TRACK SANDER.

APPLICM'ION FILED APR. 24| 1920.

1,356,982, Patented Oct. 26, 1920.

2 SHEETSSHEET l.

N W L17/diffida? W. S. GRISWOLD.

TRACK SANDER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 24, |920.

UNITED STATES PATmVrl l OFFICE.

WILLIAM S. GRISW OLD, OF GUTHRIE, OKLAHOMA.

TRACK-saunas.

Application mea April 24,

vof Oklahoma, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Track-Sanders, of which the following is a speciication, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings. v y

This invention relates to track sanding devices for railway locomotives, and particularly to that class of track sanders' wherein compressed air is used as a means for discharging sand in a yblast upon the track.l

The general object of this invention is to provide track sanding device of this character which is very simpleand effective in operation, and in which sand is prevented from blowing back into the air line of the rear sandingv mechanism while the :trent sanding mechanism i's in use or blowing into the front sanding mechanism when the rear sanding mechanism is in'use. s

A further object is to provide a device of this character which will economize sand and which will operate with a minimum amount of air, and which is entirely watertight.

A further object is toprovide-a sander of this character having a sand' holding body, a nozzle extending therefroma valve normally closing said nozzle but shiftable to unclose the nozzle, and means wherebyl when the valve is shifted to permit the sand to pass out through the nozzle a stream of compressed air shall be discharged through the nozzle to cause the vforcible ejection of. the sand therefrom.

A. further object is to provide means for operating said valve by'compressed air, and provide means whereby, when the com.- pressed air is shutoff, vthevalve will automatically return toits initial position and cut off the flow of sandthrough the dis-` charge nozzle. Y y

A further object is tok provide a construction of this character in which the valve and its allied partsmay be readily detached from the body for repair or replacement and permit the'cleaning out of the body when necessary.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description. v

My invention is illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a locomoi Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Oat. 26, 1920.

1920. serial' No. 376,340.

tive embodying my improved track sanding mechanism;

Fig. 2 is alongitudinal sectional view of the track sanding mechanism;

Fig. 8 is al section on the liney 3-13 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a valves.

Referring to these drawings, it will be seen that mysanding mechanism comprises top plany view of one of the a body 10 which is so formed as to provide a medially disposed sand containing chamber and two laterally extending cylindricalk portions 11. These portions 11' at their outery ends are formed with screw-threads 12, and the body 10 is provided in its bottom with an opening normally'closed byr a plug 13, this opening forming a clean-out opening. Passing through the bottom at spaced points therein arethe discharge pipes 11i which preferably extend above the bottom of the body 10, as indicated in Fig. 2, and coupled to the discharge pipes are the forward and rear pipe sections 15 which, as illustrated in Fig. 1, extend in divergent relation down concentrically to the locomotive wheels and are supported in any suitable manner. l

Engaging in the screw-threaded ends of lthe Afront and rear extensions 11 are the cylinders 16, these cylinders having an internal diameter approximately the same as the largest internal diameter of the extension 11 but being reduced, at 17, to engage thescrew-threads 12. Then vthe cylinder is still further reduced, as at 1S, for a portion of'its length and then again further reduced, as at 19, this portion 19 forming a stuffing box to be lilled with felt packing 20.l Disposed within each cylinder 16'is a piston and a piston rod, this piston rod, which constitutes the valve stem, beingdesignated 21', and passing out through the stuiiing box 19 andfat its extremity carrying upon it the valve 22 which is preferablyv ioivoted' to the piston rod. This valve is close the yupper end of the corresponding discharge pipe 14.' Each piston rod is formed with a longitudinal bore or passage 25 which opens into the cylinder 16 and extends longitudinally through the rod and then extends downward to a discharge opening 26 formed on the under side ofthe piston rod. Thus, When the valve 22 is opened, the discharge opening 26 will be disposed axially above the corresponding discharge pipe 14;.

Carried upon the piston rod is a substantially conical piston head 27 upon which is disposed the leather cylinder packing 28, held in place by the conical member 29 and by a follower 30, the piston head being held upon the piston` by means of the nut 31. A spring 32 is disposed Within the section 1S of the cylinder and bears against a piston head urging the piston. outward. The outer end of the section 16 of the cylinder is closed by a cap engaged With the cylinder in any suitable manner and having the-compressed air inlet opening 34 formed With a nozzle adapted to engage with an air pipe 35 leading from any suitable source ofcompressed air. lllithin the cylinder section 1G is a strainer 39 Which will prei'entidust or other foreign matter from entering the cylinder With the compressed air. It' Will be understood that each of the cylinders 16 and the corresponding valve is constructed and operated in the same manner and, as illustrated in Fig. 1, the body 10 isconnected to a sand bors-O, there being a sand box, as usual, for each locomotive.' The inlet `of compressed air to the pipes 38 is con-- trolled by a suitabie valve or valves in the cab of the engineer.

In the operation ofthis mechanism, either one of the valves 22 may be operatedY inde,- pendently of theot-her valve, and when it is desired to operate the valve, the compressed air is turned on in the corresponding pipe 38 and this compressed air, entering, 1the cylinder section 1o,Y forces the piston 2r for- Ward` from the position shown-on the left hand side ofy Fig. 2`tovthe position shown on the right hand side thereof, thus carrying the valvel 22 ofi" of its seat on .the upper end of theicorresponding discharge pipe section 14; and-carrying the air discharge opening 26 over to the center of the pipe. these circumstances, of course, the sand Within the member 10 can be discharged through the discharge pipe and this sand Will be discharged vthrough said pipe'an-d forced out therefrom by the action of the compressed air discharging into the pipe 14 through the opening 26, this air 'acting to suck the sand into `the discharge opening. When sufficient sand has thus been discharged, the valvev in pipeBS is closed. For a short time the compressed air Within the chamber 16'Will pass ou-tithrou-gh the duct 30 and be discharged through the discharge pipe, but when the pressure decreases in the cylinder section 16 beyond a predetermined Under point, the spring 32 Will act to force the piston head outward, thus causing the valve to closerand cutting ofi" the supply of sand.

y It will be seen that the body 10 is cast all vin one-piece and screws into the sand box,

thus making it absolutely Water-tight, and thus no moisture can get to the sand to therebyvcause it toclog. The valve 22 is so constructed that it may easily pass through the body of sand 10y Without being so impeded as would prevent kthe proper operation of the device. If the piston head needs new packing or the spring 32 needs replacement, or the packing needs to be replaced, it is a relativelyl easy matter to WithdranT the cylinder formed of the sections 16, 17, 18 and 19, from the extremity ofthe branch 11 or the cap 33 may be unscreived fromlthe cylinderV section. `16 and the piston Withdrawn inthis manner.` In` other Words, the piston, piston' rod and the valve 23 With. the packing maybe all withdrawn as a unit from the body 10, thus making-it relatively easy to make any repairs necessary and further making it easy to clean out the sand chamber in the body 10, if by anychance the sand should clogvor the chamber 10 should become obstructed.

Of course, itWill be understood that the pipes 141 and lare clamped to the frame ofthe locomotive and that the forward pipe is used Whenthe locomotive is going forward and the rear pipe used `When the locomotive is goin-gl backward. The packing20 formingthe stuffingboX-,for the forward end of the stem 21 is ofimportance, Aas if no packing is used to form this stufiing box anch-,for instance, the fronti` sanding pipe 15 should become clogged or frozen up at the end next to the; rail and the front sander should be operated, it would fill up with airy and sa-ndfand cause a blow back inthe body 10, tlierevivould be an outlet in the piston rod or stein 21 in the back sander, and vthen the air would carry dust and small grains-of sand back with itinto the cylinders and air line. Then When the back sander was used, the dust and sand would clog. the operationof` the piston rod`21 ofl the backlsander. The sand, ofcourse, will clog iir the lateral branches.v 11 of the body 10 and all thespace inthe body 10 Will-be filled with sand and, of course,.sand will ioW from the sand boX 4:0 by gravity and keep the b'o'dy 10 clear at all times.

Thereason for having the discharge pipe 111 proj ecting above the bottom of the casing 11 is that if the slide-valves Were placed on the bottom of the body or acent the bottom of the body, all the gravel that` would accumulate from the sandnot being properly screened Would'i'nterfere with the operation ofthev'alve. The valves 22 are, of

course, removable fromI the forwardfends as it is obvious that many changes might be made therein withoutl departing yi'from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim y l. A track sanding mechanism of' the character described including a sand receiving body lhaving a vertical discharge pipe,

a valve movable in aihorizontal plane trom a position obstructing the discharge pipe vto a position permitting low of sand therethrough, a valve rod `extending laterallyV from the valve and having a longitudinally extending duct opening upon the bottom of the piston rod adjacent the valve whereby when the valve is shifted to a position to uncover said upper end of the discharge port the bore of the valve will register with the discharge pipe, manually controllable means for admitting compressed air to said duct and shifting the valve from its closed position to its open position to uncover the upper end of the discharge pipe, and means urging the valve in a position to cover the discharge pipe.

2. A track sanding mechanism of the character described including a sand receiving body having a discharge pipe, a cylinder extending laterally from the body and connected at its outer end to a source of compressed air, means for admitting compressed air to the cylinder, a piston operating therein and having a tubular piston rod, a valve carried upon the outer end of the piston rod and adapted to close over the discharge pipe, said passage through the piston rod opening upon the under side thereof and, when the valve is opened, discharging into the discharge pipe, and a spring urging the piston outward and the valve to a closed position.

3. A track sanding device comprising a sand receiving bodyy having a discharge pipe, said body having a lateral extension, a cylinder disposed in said lateral extension and connected at its outer end to a source of compressed air, a piston head disposed in the cylinder and having a stem yextending out of the inner end of the cylinder, a valve carried upon the inner end of the stem and adapted to close the discharge pipe, said stem having a duct extending from the outer end thereof and discharging on the under face of the rod back of the valve, packing disposed within the cylinder through which the piston rod passes, a spring disposed on the cylinder and urging the piston head outward, and manually controllable means for admitting compressed air tothe cylinder. 4 f Y `la A track sanding device including a sand receiving body having a discharge pipe .extending therefrom and having a lateral branch screw-'threaded at its extremity,y a

cylinder 'having screw-threaded, detachable engagement witlithe outer end of said vbranch and having packing at its inner end, 4 a piston head operating within the cylinder and passing through said packing, avalve carried upon the extremity of. the piston vrod and normally preventing the passage of sand through the discharge pipe, said piston rodhaving a duct extending from its outer end to a point behind the valve and then extending downward to the under side of the piston rod,-packing carried by the piston head and bearing against the cylinder, a spring urging said piston outward, and manually controllable means for admittingv compressed air to the cylinder.

5. track sanding device including a sand receiving body having-a discharge pipe extending therefrom and having a lateral branch screw-threaded at its extremity, a cylinder having screw-threaded, detachable engagement with the outer end of said branch and having packing at its inner end,

a piston head operating within the cylinder and passing through said packing, a valve carried upon the extremity of the piston rod and normally preventing the passage of sand through the discharge pipe, said piston rod havingr a duct extending from its outer end to a point behind the valve and then exv tending downward to the under sideofthe piston rod, `packing carried by the piston head and bearing against the cylinder, a spring urging said piston outward, manually controllable means for admitting compressed air to the cylinder, said cylinder having a detachable cap at its outer end, and a strainer disposed within the cylinder inwardV of this cap.

6. A track sander. of the character described including a sand receiving body having two discharge pipes in spacedrelation to each other, the body provided with two p oppositely extending branches, cylinders operatively and detachably engaged with the extremity of each branch, piston heads carried in said cylinders, piston rods carried by each head and extending through the inner end of the corresponding cylinder, a valve carried on the extremity of each piston rod-and adapted to prevent the passage of sand through the corresponding dis- 'charge pipe, each piston rod being formed packing carried by the piston head and engaging the cylinder, a spring urging each piston head outward, iexible pipes extending from each discharge pipe and operatively and detachably engaged therewith, and manually controllable means for admitting compressed air to either of said cylinders behind the piston thereof.

7. In a locomotive, driving wheels, asand container, a sand receiving body below and engaged with the sand container and having two discharge pipes, sand pipes extending from said discharge pipes to points forward and rearward of the driving wheels, valves controlling the discharge through each pipe and disposed within the body, resilient means normally urging said valves to a closed position, manually controllable com- `mally seated upon the upper end of the `discharge pipe and yieldingly held in this position, and air operated means for forcing said valve from its seat to permit the discharge of sand through the discharge pipe.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aiiix my signature. ILLIAM S. GRISWOLD. 

